Correia goes for Twins in opener with Brewers

Veteran righty Kevin Correia can end a brief two-start skid on Monday when the slumping Minnesota Twins visit Miller Park for the first test of a home-and-home four-game interleague series.

The Brewers will host the initial two games of the series before the scene shifts to Minnesota's Target Field for the final two games Wednesday and Thursday.

The Twins dropped their 11th game in 12 outings on Sunday in Detroit when Max Scherzer struck out six over six strong innings of one-run ball to lead the Tigers to a 6-1 triumph in the finale of a four-game set at Comerica Park.

Mike Pelfrey (3-5) was tagged for five runs on five hits and three walks over 5 2/3 frames to absorb the loss.

Jamey Carroll drove in the lone run for the Twins.

"Obviously it's not an ideal situation but every team goes through it in a given season," Carroll said. "Hopefully we can go to Milwaukee and start getting things turned around."

Correia, a 12-game winner in Pittsburgh last season, was 4-2 in his initial seven starts for the Twins - with whom he signed a two-year, $10 million deal in the offseason.

His last win was a 5-3 verdict at Boston on May 9, in which he tossed 5 1/3 innings and allowed nine hits and three runs while his earned run average settled at 3.09.

In two starts since - losses to the Chicago White Sox and Atlanta - he's combined to allow 17 hits and nine runs in 11 innings while the Twins have been outscored, 9-3, and his ERA has soared to 3.90.

Correia is 4-6 in 20 career meetings with the Brewers, including a 3-4 mark in 14 appearances at Miller Park.

He'll be opposed by young Dominican righty Wily Peralta, who was 13 years old when Correia was initially drafted by the San Francisco Giants.

Now 24, Peralta debuted in the majors with a 2-1 record in six appearances in 2012, and has made 10 starts this season - though he's won just one of the last five.

He was 2-1 with a 5.02 ERA after topping the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-4, on April 27, but has since seen the record plunge to 3-5 and the ERA swell to 6.45.

He retired only five batters in his last start - against the Dodgers on May 22 - while giving up six runs on seven hits in a 9-2 loss.

Peralta has never faced the Twins.

On Sunday in Milwaukee, Starling Marte drove in the eventual deciding run in the sixth inning and Jordy Mercer had three hits, including an RBI triple, as the Pittsburgh Pirates held on for a 5-4 victory over the Brewers in the finale of a three-game series.

Ryan Braun hit a three-run double and Carlos Gomez drove in one run to account for Milwaukee's offense. Starter Yovani Gallardo (3-5) gave up four runs on five hits and fanned seven over four frames in the setback, the first in 10 career home starts for the right-hander versus the Pirates.

"His stuff was good," Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke. "I thought he was down in the zone with it. It surprises me that he had good stuff but was in trouble getting through four innings like that."

The teams split six games in their 2012 series, while the Brewers took four of six played in 2011. Minnesota last won the series in 2009, 5-1.